FRC appoints NAO’s Mike Suffield as director of audit quality

NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE lead director Mike Suffield has been appointed director of audit quality by the FRC.

He will lead the FRC’s audit quality review team in its work to monitor the quality of UK audit firms’ audits of public interest and large AIM entities.

Suffield (pitcured) initially joined the NAO in 1995 having cut his teeth at Coopers & Lybrand, where he trained as an auditor.

At the NAO he is joint head of the compliance and quality unit with responsibility for audit quality arrangements.

He will join the FRC in July.

FRC executive director for audit Melanie McLaren said: “Mike’s experience and knowledge of audit quality issues together with his keen eye on the public interest mean he is well placed to lead our AQR activities as our responsibilities in this area develop. The FRC’s target is for 90% of FTSE 350 audits to require no more than limited improvements by 2019. Mike will be instrumental in achieving this outcome, which is core to our mission to foster investment. New audit inspection rules due in June 2016 mean the FRC will monitor the work of a larger number of audit firms with public interest entity clients.”